LAFC still has plenty to play for in regular season

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Midfielder Eduard Atuesta and his LAFC teammates have already secured the top seed for the Western Conference playoffs, but the team still has much to play for in the regular season — the Supporter’s Shield and MLS records for points, goals and goal differential in a season. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles Football Club (19-4-6, 63 points) has become the class of the league in its sophomore season, but this weekend the team will face an opponent that has had its own run of success in 2019.

The Philadelphia Union (15-8-6, 51 points) is one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, and LAFC travels to Talon Energy Field to face the Union on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT amid the roughest stretch the team has experienced this season.

LAFC clinched the top seed for the Western Conference playoffs on Wednesday after the Houston Dynamo beat Minnesota United 2-0, but the team isn’t satisfied with its recent run of form. Beginning with the second match against the crosstown rival Galaxy on Aug. 25, LAFC has dropped points in three straight matches (0-1-2) after not doing so in consecutive games all season.

While LAFC has its postseason seeding secured, the team still has much to play for in the regular season. LAFC leads the race for the Supporter’s Shield and is within striking distance of the MLS records for points, goals and goal differential in a season. Those marks are far from the team’s top priority, but the organization views the Shield as a major accomplishment and wants to enter the postseason playing better than the team has of late.

“We feel like a game like this is an excellent test for us at this point in the year,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “(The Union) have a style of playing that is hard to play against. They create chances in different ways.”

Facing the Union in Philadelphia is a difficult place to try to begin the climb back to top form, but the cavalry is returning for LAFC after the team played short-handed in central Florida. International duty forced LAFC into some unorthodox personnel decisions in Orlando, most notably in the midfield, but the break is over and Walker Zimmerman, Brian Rodriguez, Eduard Atuesta and Mark Anthony-Kaye, Peter Lee-Vassell and Diego Palacios are all in Philadelphia with the team and potentially available for Saturday’s lineup.

Carlos Vela, the MLS-leading scorer (27 goals, 15 assists) who has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the Galaxy match, also traveled to Philadelphia earlier this week and has participated in regular training. Bradley made no guarantees as to who could be available on Saturday, but he certainly has more options to choose from than he did in Orlando.

“Everyone of those guys enjoy the football we play, enjoys being on the field and wants to be on the field,” Bradley said. “We always make decisions on how to put our best team on the field and do it in a way that doesn’t negatively impact us in upcoming games. That’s how we’ve handled it all season.”

New York City Football Club (15-5-8, 53 points) earned four points over two matches played during the recent international break to pass Philadelphia and ascend to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. But this talented, confident and rested Union team has shaken off a midsummer slump to win four of its past five matches and represents an excellent challenge for LAFC with only five matches left in the regular season.

“LAFC, I wish you a lot of luck,” 26-year-old Kacper Przybylkos said after registering a goal and an assist in Philadelphia’s victory over Atlanta. “This is our house, this is our stadium, we have great supporters and we’re waiting for you guys.”

LAFC, already being mentioned by some as one of the best teams in the league’s 24-year history, received the message.

“Kacper said they’re looking forward to the game so we would expect that. The win that they had against Atlanta shows that they’re a top team in the East competing to get that bye so all these games are important,” said Bradley, who will face one of his disciples in Union manager Jim Curtin. “Certainly Atlanta and NYCFC are right there with them, but Philadelphia has played very well throughout the season.”

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